State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is considering another round of its Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). In response, the company’s employee union on Monday urged the Board of Directors to retract this decision. As of March 2024, BSNL reported having 29,750 executives and 26,435 non-executives. Employees have pointed to ineffective policies and managerial inefficiencies as the root cause of the company’s struggles, rather than workforce size.
“The number of employees at BSNL is not the primary factor behind its financial troubles. The management’s failure to significantly boost revenue generation is the real issue. We strongly request the management to rethink and withdraw the plan for a second VRS,” stated the BSNLEU, the employee union.
Decline in Services
The union highlighted that BSNL has historically generated most of its revenue from landline services. However, following the initial VRS in 2020, the upkeep of landline and broadband services was completely outsourced. Initially, the management expected between 30,000 and 35,000 employees to opt for the VRS, but the actual number exceeded 80,000.
“This decision led to a serious decline in service quality. Currently, BSNL’s landline services are on the verge of extinction, with Jio emerging as the leading provider, capitalizing on optic fiber technology. It is unfortunate that BSNL, despite having the largest optic fiber network, has not been able to replicate Jio’s success,” the BSNLEU remarked.
Similarly, BSNL’s Fiber to the Home (FTTH) service, once regarded as top-notch, now suffers from significant disconnections due to poor service quality. The union voiced its concern about management’s refusal to manage FTTH provisioning and maintenance, citing a lack of workforce as the reason.
Unfair Competitive Landscape
BSNL’s employees contend that the company is at a disadvantage concerning service quality due to restrictions on equipment procurement. Government policy mandates that BSNL acquire 4G equipment solely from Indian manufacturers, while private operators like Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea are free to procure their equipment from well-established international vendors such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung.
“Why should BSNL be constrained to use only Indian vendors when private players have the liberty to source from global leaders? This constitutes an unequal and unfair competitive environment for BSNL,” argued BSNLEU.
The union’s letter also referenced the recommendations from the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings, which suggested that BSNL seek assistance from foreign technology firms to address challenges with TCS’s 4G equipment deployment.
Customer Migration
The BSNLEU noted that many customers who initially switched to BSNL after the private operators’ tariff hikes in July have begun moving back to these private providers due to BSNL’s inadequate mobile services.
Misleading Salary Claims
Addressing claims that BSNL allocates 38% of its revenue to salaries, a figure significantly higher than the single-digit percentages spent by private operators, the union argued that this portrayal is misleading. “Companies like Jio and Airtel, with substantially higher revenues, allocate a tiny portion of their income to salaries, skewing the comparison,” the union emphasized.
Despite the implementation of various revival packages in 2019, 2022, and 2023, BSNL has not managed to make significant strides in boosting its revenue.
